My perception from reading the Brazilian newspapers about this topic since it surfaced: we wanted the advanced Rafale but couldn't pay, Gripen wasn't perfect but it was a bargain so.. Boeing was in the lead because it was advanced and the price wasn't too bad (transferring technology would be good and was still being negotiated).... and then the NSA thing happened. Next thing we heard was our government decided to go with the Gripen.
I think the conspiracy theories will go on for a while but in the end the NSA scandal really changed the final outcome.
Personally, I think Brazil did a good thing choosing the Gripen. We don't have a history of participating actively in wars (besides, we usually send medical staff instead). Our main concern is the borders and people smuggling drugs.. Gripen, F-35, Rafale.. any of those would serve the purpose very well. It's not like Brazil is planning to use the jets for anything huge like going to war... unlike the US.
Yes, anything at all would have worked since those planes are only meant to keep neighboring countries and drug smugglers minimally in check, so the choice was 100% political. It is pretty clear though that the government was going to award the contract to Boeing for political reasons, which was going to align nicely with the state visit to the US.
Then the NSA thing happened, the state visit didn't happen and some people in Sweden will forever thank the US government, since keeping logs of Brazilians chatting about TV celebrities and football was somehow worth losing 4.5 billion dollars to them.
Comments
My perception from reading the Brazilian newspapers about this topic since it surfaced: we wanted the advanced Rafale but couldn't pay, Gripen wasn't perfect but it was a bargain so.. Boeing was in the lead because it was advanced and the price wasn't too bad (transferring technology would be good and was still being negotiated).... and then the NSA thing happened. Next thing we heard was our government decided to go with the Gripen.
I think the conspiracy theories will go on for a while but in the end the NSA scandal really changed the final outcome.
Personally, I think Brazil did a good thing choosing the Gripen. We don't have a history of participating actively in wars (besides, we usually send medical staff instead). Our main concern is the borders and people smuggling drugs.. Gripen, F-35, Rafale.. any of those would serve the purpose very well. It's not like Brazil is planning to use the jets for anything huge like going to war... unlike the US.
Yes, anything at all would have worked since those planes are only meant to keep neighboring countries and drug smugglers minimally in check, so the choice was 100% political. It is pretty clear though that the government was going to award the contract to Boeing for political reasons, which was going to align nicely with the state visit to the US.
Then the NSA thing happened, the state visit didn't happen and some people in Sweden will forever thank the US government, since keeping logs of Brazilians chatting about TV celebrities and football was somehow worth losing 4.5 billion dollars to them.